Day 5 - Rev. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond

As the founding Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Dafur, the Co-Pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston and a pediatrician at the South End Community Health Center, Reverend Gloria White Hammond MD wears many hats. She has traveled multiple times to Sudan since 2001, including to southern Sudan and IDP camps in Darfur. As a result of her early experiences in Sudan, Rev. Dr. White-Hammond co-founded My Sister’s Keeper (MSK), a Boston-based humanitarian organization that coordinates with Sudanese women to help rebuild their communities. Over the past seven years, MSK has worked on installing grinding mills for Sudanese women so that they will not have to grind grain manually, a process which takes a terrific physical toll. MSK has also organized the training of Sudanese doctors in the U.S. in the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS and is currently developing a girls’ school in Akon, southern Sudan, funding a hospital in Aweil, and continuing its Darfur advocacy efforts

Rev. White-Hammond was a member of the group of fourteen faith leaders who came together in October 2008 to meet with Joshua Dubois, the head of President Obama’s Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, to underscore the importance of U.S. leadership in resolving the conflict in Sudan. At the meeting, Rev. White-Hammond spoke eloquently and passionately about the extent of the gender-based violence wracking the region, rape as a weapon of war, and the intent of attackers to destroy the social fabric of society by instigating such violence.

Rev. White-Hammond has done medical missionary work in several African countries. She has called upon others of African descent to become active in ending the genocide in Darfur, saying “the black community needs to assert itself politically and demand increased humanitarian aid for genocide victims in Darfur…I want it to be said that we did for the African people today what was not done for us 400 years ago.” The Save Darfur Coalition is honored to have Rev. White-Hammond as a member of our Board of Directors. We recognize her as one of our 16 Leaders for showing us, time and time again, what faith in action looks like.

Today, you can act by asking your faith leader to speak about Violence Against Women in Sudan in your place of worship, or by leading a small group that discusses sexual violence in Sudan and beyond. Consider raising the issue with your local Social Justice Board, or making materials on VAW in Sudan available to members of your congregation. Is your place of worship a “Congregation of Conscience”? If you collect more than 100 postcards from your congregation asking President Obama to lead for peace, Save Darfur will send you a free “Congregation of Conscience” banner. To learn more about our faith programs and outreach, contact Natasha Ghent-Rodriguez at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).